Self-publishing is one way to go with your book no publisher has embraced. What are the pluses or minuses?

But bookstores shy away from self-published work, partly because it usually allows for no returns, and book reviewers routinely skip coverage in print.

Look up some well-done newspaper or magazine articles on this subject. The March-April 2009 issue of Writer's Digest devotes most of the content to self-publishing. See also the Wall Street Journal, November 13, 2007, page B1. Another was in the May 2006 issue of Kiplinger's Magazine, in an article entitled "I published My Own Book and the critics noticed." Look up April 24, 2005 New York Times: "How to Be Your Own Publisher" by Sarah Glazer. She deals with well-known print-on-demand firms like Publish America, iUniverse, xLibris, and the older vanity publisher Vantage. You'll find success stories and disappointments. These are all recommended articles.

Articles in the November 13, 2007, April 27, 2004, and November 13, 2001, Wall Street Journal  provide some more hard numbers that may be helpful. The "books on demand" firm, iUniverse, at that point had 8,500 finished titles for which the author or the author's organization paid as little as $99. On the POD system (print on demand), the author invests in the setup and initial publication of his or her book. Each copy then must be purchased one by one and manufactured as there is demand. Most of their authors pay more than $99. I would guess you would be into several hundred or even a couple of thousand if you want a supply of books to take on the road with you. In the April, 2004, article, they report that the POD firm Xlibris has 10,629 titles available but only 14.3% have sold over 200 copies (see the article on p. R12). The average they say is now 130 copies. The article goes into the add-ons and ultimate expenses, including author involvement.

Speaking of author involvement: Yet another Wall Street Journal story should be looked up for a good case-history. Go to your library and find the January 20 2004 issue, page D-7, for financial journalist Andy Kessler's interesting account of self-publication. Short summary: he had a hot book idea, produced and printed up some 10,000, and he made it a success. But he had lots of connections in the media to promote his book. He found that most of the periodicals don't review self-published books, so he ran around them with web exposure and personal contacts with chain book buyers (whom he knew personally). It helped that he was on national TV with Kudlow and Cramer (more personal contacts) and that the New York Times mentioned him in an article. Who of us could count on all those connections?

iUniverse, Xlibris, WinePress, Xulon and others make real books, not photocopies, and sell them at your direction anywhere books are sold--but only "on demand." iUniverse, in the earlier report,  had sales of 750,000 copies. This works out to about 88 copies per title. They say some authors only want one copy to prove they are published, so the average doesn't tell the whole story. I'm aware of some authors who have self-published and have distributed over 100,000 copies, keeping not only royalty but the traditional profit the publishers, distributors, and booksellers enjoy. If you can do that, you must have a ready constituency or market that can find out about your book and be willing to pay for it. Itinerant speakers are the most common examples. You could do very well financially!

Bookstores and online booksellers like Amazon are happy to sell books their customers want, even self-published and subsidy press published. But they aren't willing to put them on a shelf or promote them without known demand. They are in a business. So it would be back to the author to generate demand for a self-published book. Can you do that? Promotion activity costs something in time and effort. This is much easier for an established publisher who has contacts and staff already in place.

The established traditional publisher, in short, assumes some risk in contracting for the publication of your book. I used to estimate that each book my company produced entailed about a $20,000 to $50,000 investment--all at risk before the first copy is sold. An editor would be paid, a designer and typesetter paid, and a sales staff equipped to move the current list of new books. This forced me to turn down many worthy books because the risk was not justified. I just couldn't expect to recover the up-front investment.

A well-done manuscript deserves readers, so I would never tell an author to give up if only 25 copies will ever be sold. You've polished the material, and you have the thousand dollars or so to create a small quantity of books. For poetry, family history, personal testimony, or possibly some obscure academic areas the subsidy publisher may be the answer.

Two final notes more on this subject: If you go ahead and self-publish and then want to submit your product to a traditional royalty publisher, don't assume they will take your production, typesetting, cover, or other features and just run with it. They will want to do their own editing, design, formatting, and positioning in the marketplace. And (needless to say) don't assume they'll take over the inventory you have out in your garage!  Secondly: Yes, you can submit your self-published book to The Writer's Edge as a valid new manuscript. We will consider it like any other new book proposal. Just send the whole thing. Our reviewers will read the equivalent of three chapters and size up the prospects for a traditional publisher to make a success of it.

If you self-publish, please report back to me and I'll add your experience to this page of opinion if it throws more light on the subject. Many writers are trying self-publishing. Also I'd like to hear from anyone who has used www.LuLu.com for their self-publishing effort. This is a print-on-demand program that says you pay nothing up front and you can buy just one copy if you want. Thanks to a respondent for one report.  For an experience in self-publishing in 2008 that turned sour for one UK author, read his "POD Critique," based on experiences with an unnamed self-publishing firm in the US.

--Stephen Board, Administrator
steveboard@writersedgeservice.com

  Be aware that art is not necessary and may be even unwelcome by many publishers who want to commission their own art. Especially be aware that publishers are cautious of submissions that come packaged with art by a family member (my son the artist, my brother in law, my sister, etc.). Objectivity and candor are usually missing in those situations. Publishers want to control the whole package and are wary of ceding that control to the author.

Take a look at some of the recent reports on the site and you can get an idea of what kinds of books people have proposed under the Children category.

For good reference books, it's hard to beat the one from the Writer's Digest folk: Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market. It comes out every year and has some excellent listings of companies and services. Another new book just out seems useful: The Everything Guide to Writing Children's Books, by Lesley Bolton (Adams Media, 2003, $14.95). This is a basic overview of the unique issues related to publishing your book, including some discussion of self-publishing.
    We have only a few publishers (probably less than a dozen) who do books in this area, so we must warn writers that the placement of their entry will be difficult. That's full disclosure on our part: if you have another way to locate a hospitable editor, go that route first.

For a web discussion of the truly difficult challenge of publishing children's books see also http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/tr01/writer_to_do.shtml.

Here's a link that might interest children's books writers: AuthorLink's children's information about writing: www.authorlink.com

You'll wonder, possibly, about the religious content of your writing for anything you submit to one of our publishers. If a book has no Christian content at all, you might not pass the screening. Our publishers are trying to publish material that speaks something relevant in Christian terms to an audience. This is not always pure theology, especially for kids' books. But it should not be humanism either.

Our customers sometimes ask if there is a similar service to The Writer's Edge for the general (sometimes called "secular") market. There may be something but I don't know of another service that is comparable for the general market unless it would be Author Link. Check their site and tell me what you think:
   Authorlink! About Writers, Writing, Editors, Literary Agents. They post manuscript proposals similar to Writer's Edge and ECPA's Christian Manuscript program, though for the general market. We have not researched their effectiveness and do not have an opinion on their services.
    My tentative impression of these services is that they seem to have a business link to print on demand or subsidy publishing arrangements, but please check it out yourself. One that I know of where a writer can post writing samples and book proposals is Rosedog.com.
   I haven't evaluated these but I have a hunch that editors and publishers don't do much with web sites that are wide open to anyone. They have a lot to read on their desk already.
   If you find any others, please report back since people often ask. There are some excellent web sites for writers (see our LINKS page). For features of ECPA's "Christian Manuscripts" see the Frequently Asked Questions page.

If you can find an agent to represent you and your writing, it's probably going to help get your material before an acquisitions editor, especially fiction. This assumes the agent has some credibility and is on a first name basis with the key people who might adopt your book. The Writer's Edge itself is not an agenting program but a manuscript screening and display service. I.e., we don't promote manuscripts and take a commission on the earnings of books. And unfortunately we can't recommend agents for your work.
   

Publishers pay instant  attention to . . .

The author's "platform" or zone of influence. We have heard editors say "we don't publish books--we publish authors." This means: If you have a "constituency" or a following, their heads will immediately turn. Examples:  a national radio or TV broadcast; a history of other books that have sold well and given you a loyal following; newspaper or magazine appearances on a regular basis (e.g., a column); a regular speaking schedule at events, the larger the better; a large church which you lead or have lots of loyal influence; fame as a musician or entertainer or other celebrity status. You get the idea. This is the celebrity juggernaut that everyone laments but is still a reality.

Your promise to buy lots of books. Example: your organization will take 5000 copies of the first printing. How could the publisher lose? They can print 6000 and still do well. And your copies will help promote their copies in the word-of-mouth reputation of the book.

Significant topic in an area of significant interest. The key phrase is significant area of interest. The publisher sees that you are writing on cult deprogramming (for example) just as that turns up in the news and you are being widely quoted on the subject. If nobody is interested in your specialty, it's no help in the success of your book. And fiction is a wild card since the story carries its own appeal, apart from anything trendy.

A history of good-selling books that another publisher has published and, for some reason, you are offering this new book to a new publisher. There's a little bit of envy in the publisher who sees your new book as a way to take over the stream of success the other guy has developed. (But if you jump from one publisher to another in rapid succession, you may look hard to please.) Bookstores know you. The wind is at your back.

General credibility: Some areas that help would be your academic credentials, especially in the area of your writing, official standing with an organization or church. Example: a faculty position in a college or an ordination with a recognized denomination. Clarity, integrity, good reputation--these all aid the plausibility of your work.

Writing projects that are way beyond your expertise. The world looks for credentials in many areas of publication (non-fiction) and if you don't have some credibility as a knowledgeable authority, your manuscript is probably going to be rejected. We see some areas of religious writing that stall out here. Examples:  critiques of evolution by those outside the world of credentialed science; completely new insights into a field of theology by a writer who may not be aware of what is completely new. Serious students of these areas usually have something that gives them credibility, not just the claim to have studied something for years. You can often work around the problem by securing endorsements from reputable scholars who back you up. And of course there are exceptions to the rule, such as inspirational writing, devotionals, biographies, autobiographies--none of which require heavy academic pedigrees. Fiction is something else, since your expertise is revealed entirely by your story-telling ability.

Topics with low market potential: The publisher hopes for multiple printings--first 5,000, then a reprint, then another reprint. But tiny markets, with sales exhausted in the first 1,000 or so copies, are usually negatives. This is the problem with publishing poetry: there just aren't enough people who buy new poetry from unknown writers. It's a tiny market.

Topics for markets that can't be easily accessed. You have a good book with good potential in readership but the publisher can't think how to reach its intended market. The marketplace wind is not at your back--it's blowing against you. This has been a problem in the past with books for teens: they aren't easy to get to since they tend not to go into Christian bookstores. So you are back to selling the book to someone else who then gives it to the teen. There are still  examples of success, and good marketing is always hunting for ways to connect to hitherto remote readers. But the challenge may be intimidating for the publisher who wants an easy sell.

Impossible production formats. We've had submitted a commentary on Revelation that totaled 5000 pages. It was not done by a reputable scholar, though obviously by a person who had studied the book deeply. But the usual publisher reaction is negative for huge manuscripts, those that require costly and elaborate printing and design, odd shapes or bindings (like spiral binding--bookstores resist anything that doesn't fit on a shelf). Again, there are exceptions but you are starting in the end-zone with huge novels, costly production, or odd formats for your book.

Books with no follow-up potential. The publisher hopes to start a string of successes with the publication of a new author. But if this will be the only book you ever write, the investment may not be worth it. Here is a serious problem with deceased authors! People sometimes have a good manuscript written by a beloved parent or grandparent who has died. Obviously the publisher is not able to exploit a whole series of books from this author. Same problem with aging authors, even though many have a lot to say. Too bad, but you can understand it.

Visions:  your material claims to be based on visions or private revelations. Publishers keep their distance from anything like that. It strikes them as wacky and potentially heretical. Uncomfortably close is the claim that God gave you this material and sent you out to publish it. You can think it, but don't say it. If you say God dictated it to you: it's DOA. You imply everyone must accept it as you say or they oppose The Deity.

Religious Obstacles:  We serve Christian publishers, most of whom are sensitive to doctrine and image. This means a writer who takes an unorthodox position or comes from a religious group considered unorthodox will have an extra obstacle to overcome. This is not just "unusual" or "fresh" viewpoints but those considered clearly outside the mainstream. This might become a problem for some books written by adherents of New Age or reflecting New Age viewpoints. In some cases, it might be a limitation for writers from Mormon circles. This is especially an issue with evangelical publishers and with some Catholic houses. 

As I first said: My goal is to help you think like the acquiring publishers think, not to discourage your attempts! The Writer's Edge is committed to getting unpublished authors on the radar screens of legitimate publishers. You may not be a celebrity, have no national platform or constituency, not be able to buy thousands of copies, but if your writing is your calling, we want to help you and are set up to make a good faith effort in finding a publisher.

More full disclosure: The Writer's Edge Service has critics!

  Most of the writers we service are very grateful for one more way to try to place their manuscript with legitimate publishers. We receive many kind notes of appreciation, even from people who have their manuscripts rejected. Thanks to all of you.
  But some are critical and have complaints, always patiently listened to. The most plausible critics are those who report they put their book into our system, it was accepted for reporting, but they never heard from a publisher. This is especially a problem for fiction writers and children's books writers. In fiction, it's hard to turn the heads of publishers without getting them to read the actual prose. And we have only recently begun to give them a sample of your prose (see "Writer's Voice" under the Publisher section of the home page). Ideally, they would read your whole manuscript and see how you develop the characters and finish your novel. You know the difficulty of placing a first novel by a writer who has no public following. Our service makes a good effort to commend your work but we know the limitations.
   You can be sure The Writer's Edge is trying hard to push publishers to explore the listings in our reports. We get frustrated with the publishers like you do: some of them act like they won't ever need any new authors. Others go for months indifferent to new authors, then panic when their lists are too thin for the coming season.

 Rejection: Understandably, another unhappy customer is the writer who has been told his or her manuscript is not a promising potential book and we are not able to accept it for our reports. I concede: sometimes the reviewers are wrong: they misunderstood your book, they jumped to faulty conclusions, and their evaluations are hasty. In those cases we try to listen to the writer and sometimes grant a second review to double check what the first reviewer said.
    But more commonly, the writer may have trouble hearing that the proposal just doesn't work. It may have all the shortcomings of the "liabilities" (see above opinion) or it just may not compete well with the vast number of other manuscripts publishers are looking at. The reviewer is told to be candid, and the writer paid for a candid, honest opinion. The reviewer, unlike your mother or sister-in-law, doesn't know you; he or she knows only the words on paper. This means the reviewer is comparable to the editor at a publishing house. Remember, a critic can be more useful than your friends, since the critic will tell you things your friends and relatives won't!
   Even though rejection is painful for all of us, most of our writers take it in stride. But a tiny minority of our writer customers--maybe a half dozen a year--react furiously when we tell them their material is not publishable. They fire back letters consigning our people to eternal judgment, threatening us with legal action, complaining to the Better Business Bureau, demanding their money back, and accusing us of fraud. Those few people take a lot of the fun out of The Writer's Edge for those of us who work on it; we are all part-timers, trying to render a service for a difficult-to-serve corner of publishing. If someone won't let us serve them honestly, they should save their money and spare us the invective. We can't help them and frankly don't want their business.  

   Finally, we have our critics from a few who pronounce that services like ours don't work. They may say that at writer conferences or on website bulletin boards. I don't always know what service they are referring to, but be aware that The Writer's Edge has seen books picked up by true royalty-paying (not subsidy) publishers every year we've been active since the early 90s. Recent years have been very impressive. See our page "My Experience With the Writer's Edge" on this website. There's no guarantee, of course, and we can only do our best to get the publishers to notice our reports.
    Finally, The Writer's Edge is not an agenting service, so we are not trying to advocate book proposals to publishers. We are a conduit of information, a kind of pipeline, to the publishers about what is available among the publishable options. Candidly: How good is your book? That will finally be the issue--not how good is Writer's Edge on your behalf.

Seven people work on the Writer's Edge program (all part-time), all of whom are present or former employees of CBA or ECPA publishers (North American religious publishing associations). Among the companies represented in the job history of our reviewers are Thomas Nelson, Tyndale, IVP, Crossway, Harold Shaw, and Moody. One of the reviewers was an agent for several years and brings that experience to his evaluations. Because the reviewers need anonymity and privacy, we've only used their initials or numbers for identification in our correspondence and evaluations. The manager, Stephen Board, has an employment history with Harold Shaw Publishers (owner), David C. Cook, InterVarsity Press, and periodicals (Eternity Magazine and HIS Magazine). He has been active in Christian publishing since 1971. Since the sale of Harold Shaw Publishers of Wheaton, Illinois, to Random House-WaterBrook Press, he has continued as a consultant and editor, working with various publishing enterprises.
  The Writer’s Edge itself is not an agenting service nor does it retain an equity position in any book offered to the publishers in its reports. It is entirely a medium of communication between writers and publishers. The program is now managed and owned by Board Associates, Inc., an Illinois corporation.
 

All material on this site and in the paper reports is under the Copyright ©2010, of Stephen Board and Associates, an Illinois corporation, except for material posted by writers who hold their own copyright protection and responsibility. Writers posting material in "Writer's Voice" or "Writer Postings" bear full responsibility for rights, permissions, and infringement. Quotation of these web pages is permitted and encouraged for educational purposes.